When does H1B Visa 2018 Season Start ?Update : USCIS accepted H1B Petitions for FY 2018 starting from April 3rd, 2017 until April 7th. They updated that H1B Cap was reached on April 7th, 2017.
Typically, USCIS accepts H1B petitions for next fiscal year starting from April 1st. So, for FY 2018, the start date for accepting applications would be April 1st, 2017. But, for FY 2018 season, April 1st falls on a Saturday, so USCIS will accept applications starting from Monday, April 3rd, 2017. If you were wondering why called 2018, when in 2017, it is the fiscal year dates that dictate that. USCIS fiscal year is from October 1st to March 30th. So, technically the fiscal year for 2018 starts from October 1st and they accept petitions for the same 6 months before the start date and it would be April 1st, 2017. You may read USCIS Press release for H1B 2017 Start Date

What is H1B 2018 Quota ? Regular Cap vs Master’s Cap Quota ? Update : USCIS confirmed the below quota cap numbers in latest press release for FY 2018.
To get some background, read H1B Quota – Regular vs Masters . There have been many speculations on increasing the H1B Cap due to extremely high demand and bills proposed for the same in the past, nothing made it through. As of writing of this article, below is the H1B cap quota. We will keep this article updated as new changes come in. The total H1B Quota as of today is 85,000 and it is split like below.

H1B 2018 Lottery Predictions ?
It used to be a speculation whether we would have lottery in previous years, but in the past 4 years, lottery has become common. It is very likely that we would have lottery aka random selection for H1B 2018 season. We have been writing predictions over the years and all of them have been accurate so far. Check out our H1B Visa 2018 Lottery Predictions – Data Analysis to get an idea on how many H1B petitions you can expect for this fiscal year.

Update : USCIS Received 199,000 H1B petitions for fiscal year 2018. H1B Lottery was conducted on April 11th, 2017.

When to plan for H1B 2018 Application – What should be your strategy ?
It is never too late to start planning…Depending on your situation, you may fall in one of the below categories and the suggestions are described below.

F1 Student in USA : If you are studying on F1 visa and about to graduate in next one year, you should seriously look at finding an internship or co-op at companies that can sponsor your H1B visa. You can search for H1B Sponsors in a particular area using our H1B Sponsors Search Tool and try to get an internship to work there on CPT or OPT after you graduate. This is a strategic move and will require sometime, so plan well.

Working Professional from outside USA : If you are a working professional outside US, planning to work in US, especially on H1B visa, your best bet is to find Multinational companies ( MNCs) that have major US presence and secure a job there, so that you can position internally for applying to H1B visa, when the season starts. This is a very strategic decision, you need to carefully assess your options, speak to the company if such options exist and then only choose it. There may be many people already in-line for these visas, you need to plan carefully so that you are given a slot in the company’s filing for your next season application.

Other H4, L1 Visas : If you are on these visas living in USA, your best bet is to find companies just like I mentioned for F1 students that sponsor H1B visas and start interviewing and keeping the conversation going so that you can ask them to file H1B when the season starts.

How to find H1B Visa Sponsor for FY 2018 quota ?
This is probably the most asked question by everyone. It can be a tricky decision, you need be very careful to avoid fraud.

If you are student in the US, it is very straight forward, you find the list of H1B Sponsoring companies using the tool in an area as I mentioned above and get an internship in one of them so that they can sponsor your H1B visa.

If you are professional planning to arrive in US from outside America, it can be really tricky. If you work for an Multinational company ( MNC), then they will have some internal process to pick the candidates and then process H1B visa for them…The other option that has been used and abused is the consulting companies route…Many a times, the H1B aspirants approach a body shop IT consulting company to file H1B for them and they apply for the same. It gets nasty with the body shop consulting companies. The comments on this H1B Companies Reviews article are quite eye opening. I advise, you beware of the consulting companies and avoid fraud.

Also, WE as RedBus2US do NOT provide any guidance or assistance or sponsor anything. If someone claims that, it is pure fraud and they are trying to trick you, we are not responsible for that. Please be careful

The H1B fee varies by the size of the company..As of FY 2017 season, it can range anywhere from $1,600 USD to $7,400 USD + Attorney Fee. On December 23, 2016 , USCIS increased the H1B fee component of base filing fees, which was $325. The below table is updated with the latest fee updates from USCIS. There are various fees components that make up this number range, for more details Read Summary of H1B Filing Fee 2017 – Who pays for What ? . Below is a high level summary from FY 2017 quota. If any changes, we will update this accordingly.

H1B Fee Component

Fee in USD

Base filing fee

$460

AICWA Fee

$750 or $1,500

Fraud prevent & detection fee

$500

Fee based on Public Law 114-113 ( if applicable)

$4000

Premium processing fee (Optional)

$1,225

Immigration Attorney Fee

Varies from $500 to $3000

H1B 2018 Lottery Results – Checks Cashed, Receipts :
One of the most asked questions is when will I get to know the lottery result for my petition. Well, this depends on many factors and there is no set SLA or date. To put things in perspective, last year, USCIS did a news alert indicating that they have returned all the rejected H1B petitions on July 8th, 2017. So, you can expect the last date for receiving final lottery decision around mid July 2017. …As we had about same number of petitions filed for FY 2018, it may be slightly earlier or even later in July or even early August 2017… Few of the ways you would know, if you are selected in lottery is that, if the check that was filed with your H1B petition was cashed, or your employer gets the actual physical receipt notice in mail to them. If you filed under US masters quota, SEVIS update is another indication that you were selected in H1B lottery for FY 2018. Ideally, your receipt numbers should arrive within 1 to 2 months…but, you never know, until you get a reject notice to be sure !

H1B 2018 Case Tracker :
Did you apply for FY 2018 ? With premium processing suspended, it is quite hard for applicants to know the general status of everyone to understand their situation. We have put together a tracker along with good graphs for analysis. It is completely anonymous as we do not capture your case number or any personal information. It is community contributed data, the more you add, the better for everyone, including You !

Track your H1B Case

We do not know, if this news release is directed by Trump administration or not…but, on April 3rd, 2017 the start date of H1B season, there were set of new announcements made by USCIS to report and prevent abuse of H1B program. Check out USCIS New measures to report, prevent H1B Fraud . Besides this, as of the today ( article updated date), nothing has been officially ordered or specifically implemented by New President Trump Administration. There are many speculations on how H1B program will become tougher with higher wages, quota limits, etc… but, nothing has been officially signed. We will update the article as new updates come in.

Various H1B Bills in US House and Senate – Will they be passed for FY 2018 ?
There are few bills that are introduced in 2017 and at various stages in both house and senate. There are many confusions regarding the same bills like the minimum wage will go up to $130,000 USD, etc. Fact is that nothing has passed and there are very slim chances for them to get passed before start of FY 2018 season. You can check H1B Bills Tracker to get more details on current status. We will keep the article updated as new things are passed.

Latest News about H1B 2018 Season
High Level Latest News for FY 2018 is listed below. But, all the Latest News are tracked on our H1B 2018 News and Updates Tracker Page. Check out below.

April 13th, 2017 ( Unofficial ) : ImmigrationGirl, an attorney’s blog, confirms that one of their H1B petitions Masters’s cap checks were cashed yesterday. It is weird that USCIS is processing the petitions, without announcement. It means that Lottery was done to some extent at least Masters quota, but announcement is yet to come. Check http://immigrationgirl.com/h-1b-lottery-progress-begins/.

The most weirdest thing is that the Indian government is happy to see all the Indian engineers come to U.S. I don’t understand this. All the countries are trying to keep their young talents except India. Look at what China did. India is far more behind of China now.

India is 60% young = (70+) crores = (700000+) K only 25k is coming to US, that means India is still have: (70+) crore minus 25k this is again close to ~70 crore youth, we are abundant in talent here. its just a pinch of salt from an Ocean of talent. India has more engineers than all countries combined.

Our government knows, migrating to US is nothing to loose for India, cause India-US relations are very good.

Infosys and TCS need to stop now. Enough is enough. We studied here and build a life in usa and have been unlucky in the lottery 5 times. while people sitting in india get H1Bs and keep waiting for a project to come to USA. This year USCIS will be strict and trump will bring TCS/infy/wipro/HCL under scrutiny if they apply piles of applications.

I’m a PhD graduate, working in a startup company. My wage is half of what the new proposed bill asks for. Right now I’m on my opt, applying H1b for the first time. What would my options be if this new bill passes (which is highly likely as you all have been discussing) as I don’t qualify for the minimum wage filter?

Have you check if you can apply for scholarly visa if ur PhD degree is from US university in a specialized field? that would be the best option to look at considering the ambiguity around whole H1B process. Since the executive orders are not signed everything stands as it was before. Bills are periodically tabled in House of Rep. its amendment though takes time. Read and educate from reliable sources there are too many dummies around to create and cause panic. Good Luck !

yesterday only i had scheduled my visa interview and today a new bill has proposed. How will it affect my interview? As i wont be falling under the $130k salary range what i can expect after entering into USA? And what will happen to the people who are already in USA in H1B?

Nothing will happen. is past 7 years congress have seen similar bills but nothing passed as law.worst case once OPT is complete people will be working from Philippines, Canada or Mexico and after that they can enter USA by adhering all min wage laws etc

I currently work in the USA o OPT and most employers after trumps elections are not hiring H1B folks this year. (Only retaining the current employees) I am wondering if consultancies apply new visas, how will they find clients willing to hire H1B folks ? I guess this is the trump effect

After CPT, OPT, OPT Extension, and now CPT internship, this is my last and final shot at this tragedy of a lottery.

Keep your options open folks. Don’t bet your life on this disaster. Even though it’s unfair they put us in the same pool as the people applying from outside who didn’t have a US degree. The years of experience working in OPT/CPT will pay off. Your US clients, managers, coworkers, and friends are definitely a valuable resource for you if you ever decide to try again in the future.

I have been applying for positions overseas, and I have been given few offers in Europe and Canada with just as much or more salary as I am making here in the US. So don’t lose hope and don’t put your chips in one basket.

This will be my 4th Attempt (applied in 2014,2015,2016) never got picked. I used to feel I am the only one and curse my luck. Would like to get in touch with you if you don’t mind. 5th attempt means you are applying since 2013 , that’s when the lottery started right ? I wont be applying after this year either, might look for career prospects elsewhere. Seriously thought I was the only one applying 4th time. Masters from a good school in USA and job at a company which is in fortune 500 top 50 hasn’t helped. Good luck to you for this year, hope we make it!

Yes I have been working as an intern from 2012, and graduated in 2013 is when they filed h1b for me. Working in the fortune 500 as well.

You should check out Dublin, Ireland. I was given an offer there for from a tech company with a very attractive salary of 80,000 euro. I used to live in UK and it’s a bit cheaper than the US as you don’t need many things to live comfortably. European tax is horrible, but I can live with that.

The Irish ‘D’ visa is very easy to get, as there is no lottery. It’s even easier, if your salary is 60,000 euro a year or more. You’re pretty much free to work and live there after 2 years. And you’re eligible for citizenship after 5 years I think.

With Trump presidency, even green card holders are being affected. I am not sure if I can live with the anxiety of uncertainty anymore to be honest with you. Best hope to you!!!

Anybody got H1B success with AMIETE (http://www.iete.org/amite.htm). This is Associates Engineering Degree. I have heard issue with greencards for this education degree but haven’t heard anything for H1B. @Kumar : Do you have any information on this?

Hi Ravinder, I have many friends who have completed AMIETE and moved to USA on H1B and Masters education. I don’t think it is an issue as far as you have evaluated from some organization ( I think it is world education services ).

Firstly US market is volatile right now. Your 10 yrs + experience is of no use here as employers try to make most out of you immediately ( I am not discouraging you but its a fact) as you are out here. They pay you less to make most of you. you will be frustrated on your employer as he is paying less. This leads to you shifting to a new employer because of which he looses his investment on you ( your h1b fees assuming employer pays it). So he doesn’t want to take that risk. So at the end of the day if you pay your h1b fees, you can dictate rules atleast some of them. ( I am not encouraging you to pay fees but situations changed a lot from past 5 years. Owing to increase in h1b fees this happens.)

This review is about EBS Minds and iEratech. Fraud companies. I have lodged a complaint with uscis and Department of Labor in USA so that in future companies like EBSMINDS (http://www.ebsminds.com/ & Ebs-minds It Inc) and iERATECH does not flourish in USA . The culprits are Man Mohan Akavaram, Brijesh Vyas and Raghu MUTUKULA. All these 3 people are responsible for taking the money from me (USD 4000) for processing the H1B Visa. After they took the mopney , they have not moved my Visa further and refused to send me for H1B Visa stamping even thought the visa was picked in lottery and Approved. I hope they are investigated by USCIS and DOL and procescuted. I am ready to be a whisteblower and provide evidence in any court of law. Please contact me in India at +91 709319 8849

EBSMinds also goes by the name of ebs-minds IT inc, so beware of this fraud company

You’re claiming that the consultancy is fraud. But in a way you are also fraud. H1 should be applied by the employer and all the money required for application also should be sponsored by the employer.

Completely agree. Moment you choose to go the fraudulent route by agreeing to pay for filing H1B – you automatically become a fraud. You have absolutely no rights whatsoever to call the company fraud. When you chose to go this route, you must have prepared yourselves for this outcome. Glad that such people taking fraud route are losing their money this way. This is good for the overall H1B system to have less number of abuses.

This year traffic to redbus2us seems to be extremely less.. by this time last year, the h1b-visa-2017 page was full of active participants and lot of comments. But now there is hardly any post. Trump effect? or people got tired of this random H1B saga?

The new H1B bill is going to be introduced in the Congress that is supposed to increase minimum salary to 100K and also to revoke the 20K quota for Master’s and phd. My question is, if the bill is passed, (very bright chances as Republicans have thumping majority in both the houses) would this bill affect the 2018 H1B CAP (2017 lottery) or will this be implemented for 2019 CAP i.e, 2018 lottery? Any thoughts?

2 Companies that is banned by uscis and Department of Labor in USA is EBS MINDS (ebsminds) and iEratech. Both these companies charge around USD 4000 for processing H1B Visa and when not picked in lottery or RFE comes up, they refuse to refund even partially the Visa charges they have colleced, leaving the applicants in a lurch. I personally lodged a complaint and glad to see that Manmohan Akkavaram, Brijesh Vyas and Raghu MUTUKULA will be procecuted by the US Government. Thanks to all your website for hosting this review and 100s of other applicants who have compalint against companies like this.

See below of other such companies with Debarment period: 4/4/2015 to 4/3/2019:

2 Companies that is banned by uscis and Department of Labor in USA is EBS MINDS (ebsminds) and iEratech. Both these companies charge around USD 4000 for processing H1B Visa and when not picked in lottery or RFE comes up, they refuse to refund even partially the Visa charges they have colleced, leaving the applicants in a lurch. I personally lodged a complaint and glad to see that Manmohan Akkavaram, Brijesh Vyas and Raghu MUTUKULA will be procecuted by the US Government. Thanks to all your website for hosting this review and 100s of other applicants who have compalint against companies like this.

See below of other such companies with Debarment period: 4/4/2015 to 4/3/2019:

Raj, Well, we need to wait and see what Trump would do after he becomes president. It is very unlikely that they will remove H1B, all they may do is make rules strict and change cap count…again, this is pure speculation on the possibilities. We just need to wait and see…

I am sure it will be less this year… Am also betting that there might not be a lottery Lot of consultants are not ready to process any new H1’s as they are scared of an Audit.. Also the BIG 3 from India might go slow in processing of H1’s …. As Kumar mentioned, all this is again speculation and everything would be clear after 20th of Jan when Mr Trump would become Mr President

You never pay any money for H1. It is paid by Employer. If your Visa is stamped and you are still out side of US then also you can transfer. In other or Clear words, you can change employer out side of US also and that new employer will file Petition under cap exempt. I guess you may need to go to stamping and interview again.(Not 100% sure about repeat stamping and interview)

I was unselected in last year’s lottery. That was my first and last try. I already have a green card now. I’m happy I don’t have to go through the lottery ever again. Good luck to all. Make sure you have a back up plan.

Avoid states. Last year probability was close to 55%. Assuming probability remains same for three years, probability = 1 – .45*.45*.45 = 91% approx. 9% is not a small number. 9% of 100k students is 9000 which is not small either. I have tried 4 times in masters quota and didn’t get h1b yet. You could be lucky and get through lottery in first attempt but its getting tougher every season.